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Shahrazad
|Image=Shahrazad_&_Book.jpg |Realname=Nadia al-Adaq |Aliases= |Identity=Public |Species=Human |Nationality= |Base= |Gender=Female |Height=5'4" |Weight= |Eyes=Brown |Hair=Brown |Marital= |Occupation= |FirstApp=Justice League Beyond Vol. 4 Issue 010}} Shahrazad is a metahuman criminal whose powers come from a magical book she possesses: a copy of 1001 Arabian Nights. With the aid of this book she can make stories she tells become real, allowing her to summon fictional people and objects into existence. History Origin Though she has been identified most often in Pakistan, Nadia's accent and physical appearance suggest a more Middle Eastern origin. Attempts to speak to her in custody suggest some sort of childhood trauma associated with being part of the Arab diaspora following World War III and her fiction-controlling powers seem to have become something of a crutch to deal with them. The specifics of how Nadia came upon her magical tome are uncertain but it appears this astoundingly magical artifact was originally in the ownership of Destiny, a transdeific being that is part of a pantheon of seven essential forces anthropomorphized who are known as the Endless. During an interdimensional event, the book was lost from his collection and ended up in Pakistan where Nadia al-Adaq came into possession of it. Its appearance as a copy of 1001 Arabian Nights seems to the book bonding with her in some fashion or is perhaps a consequence of her preference for using it to summon Arabian myth. Criminal Activity Shahrazad's first recorded sighting was in Kashmir where she attempted to attack the Indian army base there. Thanks to Steel Shiva and Singh Ranger she was captured. Following this battle she was arrested and put in secure confinement in BRASS, and her book taken away for study by the Indian government. She was later able to escape when, given a pen, she was able to make a command that she wrote on her own flesh come true and summon her book back to her. This suggests that at least some of the power of the book has rubbed off on her and become latent, though later when her book was taken off her by Resurrection Man and Animal Woman she was left powerless so there may be more to it than that. Shahrazad then became embroiled in the plots of Professor Zed, who sought her magical book as part of his schemes for Darkseid. He broke into her cell in BRASS and, finding she had chained the tome to her wrist, he cut her entire hand off. Thanks to the medical assistance of Animal Woman she did not bleed to death, and using some of the magic imbued in Shahrazad's blood Cormac McCool was able to heal her hand. After he was defeated again by the Justice League, Professor Zed found himself in grave danger as Shahrazad sought revenge. Reunited with her book by Destiny, her first act was to place a mighty cure onto him. This declared that he would have a host of life-threatening incurable illnesses that would render him a feeble wreck but be doomed to live a long life with them. She then teleported herself away to locations unknown. Her current whereabouts are unconfirmed. Destiny claims she will continue to hold the book for some time, as she must still have it for an event he referred to as "the Hypercrisis" Appearance Nadia is an early twenties female of Arabian descent with a dark complexion and striking features. She often wears light, silky robes in white or purple which make her reminiscent of a medieval Islamic beauty. Powers The greatest of Shahrazad's assets is her magical book. Usually worn on a metal chain connected to her wrist, her copy of 1001 Arabian Nights is large tome which exudes a powerful mystical aura and resists all attempts to damage it. With the book in hand, Shahrazad's commands somehow become true. When she starts to tell a fictional story, it happens in reality: if she discusses how the ground below her was covered in gems then gems would appear, and if she tells a tale of how Steel Shiva's armour rusted up then it would become inoperable almost instantly. This has included summoning living beings, temporarily, including Sindbad, a giant Roc and a super-powered cat. Shahrazad's summonings are not limited to purely stories from the 1001 Arabian Nights: but she tends to adopt the style of those mystical caliphate stories in her conjurations. As the super-powered cat would attest, however, Shahrazad can do anything if she can imagine it making her one of the most dangerous metahumans alive. Apart from this power, however, she appears to just be a normal young adult female with no exceptional physical or mental skills. A solid strike from a sword or a shot from a gun would injure her as well as anyone else, and in combat against her the best strategy appears to be trying to ignore her many conjurations and focusing fire on her. Allies & Enemies Allies * TBC Enemies * Steel Shiva, superheroic defender of India. * Singh Ranger, Sikh superhero operating in Pakistan. * Professor Zed, super-villain who once stole her book. Category:Metahumans Category:Supervillians